Choate will begin working with Senior Services Director Pamela Breeden and Allen Kronenberger from the county’s Property Management department to come up with a basic design for the senior center.
A price tag for the total project along with a rendering will be brought before the commissioners at their June 28 meeting.
The original center, located at Legion Park in Austell, was flooded twice in four years, including during the September 2009 floods. Since February 2010, the senior center has operated out of a renovated house on Brownsville Road in Powder Springs.
The center serves a hot lunch along with offering activities for seniors, but it is not considered an adult day care facility, which provides more specialized care.
The new facility will be built in Clarkdale Park at 4905 Austell Powder Springs Road near Sweetwater Valley Library on land donated to the county by CSX.
“This part of the park does not flood,” Breeden said. “The new facility will provide us with the space we need for growth.”
The new facility is expected to be 5,000 square feet, with parking and various spaces for senior activities.
In February, commissioners approved $1.6 million originally slated for expanding the senior services center located in a former Ingles on Powder Springs Street to help rebuild the Austell center.
Breeden and county officials learned earlier this year federal funds set aside for the Powder Springs Street location could not be used for expansion because the build-out would have been in Dobbins Air Reserve Base’s Accident Potential Zone.
Commissioner Woody Thompson, whose district includes the center, said the area has a high demand for senior services and that he was excited about the new facility.
“Mableton is one of the first developed areas of the county, so there is a great need for it,” he said, adding that senior services is also having to pay to transport seniors from the Austell area to Powder Springs.
As to the question of a $31 million budget shortfall causing the county to cut budgets, which included closing two senior facilities, Thompson said the county probably wouldn’t be building a new center if the federal funds were not available.
Also at the meeting, commissioners approved the master plan for the new citizen-organized Mabry Park located in northeast Cobb off Wesley Chapel and Sandy Plains roads, next to the Mabry International Farm.
The master plan, which was paid for by the Friends of Mabry Park and completed by San Francisco-based design firm URS, includes centralized parking, a community garden, three walking trails and a pond.
“This will be the newest and only passive park in District 3,” Commissioner JoAnn Birrell said. “The Friends of Mabry Park organization; Eddie Canon, the director of parks and recreation; and the design engineers of URS have spent a tremendous amount of time and work on this project. None of this would have been possible without the input that we received from the community during the public meetings. “
The Friends group will begin raising money to pay for the actual construction. The group does not yet know how much money will be required to build the park as reflected in the master plan, but president Mark Jernigan said he estimates the amount would be $3 million to $4 million.
At its work session Tuesday afternoon, commissioners heard an update on the county’s street light district program from transportation officials.
After an internal audit last year found the county was depositing streetlight fees from residents into the general fund, a street light district fund was created to collect those fees.
However, Transportation Director Faye DiMassimo said the department would be requesting $400,000 of next year’s general fund budget to pay for non-neighborhood streetlights used for roadway and pedestrian safety.
About 10 percent of the county’s streetlights fall into the category of “non-district.”
Streetlights that do fall into districts are paid for by residents of neighborhoods and subdivisions with the lights.
In addition to creating separate funds, the audit also recommended the county create a database of streetlights.
Since December, county officials have begun converting paper maps of street light positions dating back to the 1970s to digital format. With the system, the county can keep track of the street light districts including what power companies are responsible for them.
DiMassimo also said because of the large scope of the street light district program, her office is requesting to be able to use one of its previously unfunded and vacant positions to hire an accounting specialist.
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--RE: " We can't just move on to greener pastures...WE DON'T WANT TO...WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO! WE DO THIS JOB BECAUSE WE LOVE IT! NOT JUST ANYONE CAN DO IT!" ---
Yes, there are a lot of people in the private sector who would say the same things about the jobs they have lost and the prospects they currently have for employment. The only difference between them and you: you still have a job; they don't.
---RE: "LISTEN....WE ARE NOT ASKING FOR A RAISE...JUST STOP EXPECTING THE EMPLOYEES TO KEEP LOSING MONEY AND BENEFITS!" ---
More than a few government workers have their 2008 presidential choice to blame for this. Sadly, government workers are not the only ones facing this stark reality today.
citizenandemployee, I am sorry your private sector experience was not as positive as mine has been. Working with bright, upbeat and motivated people each day is truly a blessing that you have helped me remember.
Why should THEY sacrifice & forgo their vacation days if WE'RE too cheap to pay for the work we demand from them? An analogy to a struggling business is not apt in that in the county's case, there is no decline in demand for its fire or police protection "product". ---
Lechat, maybe they could consider postponing a few vacation days until next year? Just to help ease the (needless?) "fears" of some who believe public safety efforts (and criminal investigations) will come to a dangerously grinding slow down when these vacation days combine with the required furlough days? Geeezzz, this is not rocket science. For most people I know, it is called common sense combined with a bit of gratitude for the things we have, plus some personal initiative.
Oh anon on anonymous. No axe to grind, here. Just a bit of reality and personal experience for the government workers who, even without a raise in three years, DO still have their jobs. Sadly, there are more than a few government workers out there who clearly do not understand how badly the economy has/is affecting people in their community (and the nation). This is probably because they DO still have a job and have thus been spared the difficulties that many in the community are and have been suffering...many of whom would gladly forgo a raise or two just to keep the job they had.
To sum up, government folks, while you are all highly valued, money is tight. You can step up to the plate when times get tough (as they currently are) or you can move on down the road to those greener pastures. My guess is that the reason there is so much whining from the government workers is that they understand just how good they really do have it currently, and they also realize that they probably won't find anything else out there in this economy. Nonetheless, whine like small self-centered children it seems they will continue to do. Sad? Yes,...but true.
I assume the public safety personnel have no requirement that they MUST take their vacation time or that they MUST not show up to work on a scheduled unpaid furlough day.
Before you ASSUME (and we all know what that means) you need to know how it works. Yes, employees can choose to not take vacation days however, once they have have a certain amount of vacation hours if they are not used by the end of the year they loose them. The question was asked if the Furlough could be used as vacation and take it all at one time or a couple days in a row, the answer was not because then the employee would qualify for unemployment. And NO they cannot just show up on their furlough day to work anyway, because if they are at work they must get paid. And by chance if they were at work and they were not supposed to be there and they happen to get hurt, the powers that be for the county government would have a lot of explaining to do and it most likely would not end up well for them.
As for whining in the private sector...PLEASE...THAT'S THE REASON SOME OF US LEFT THE PRIVATE SECTOR!! There is plenty of whining going on in the private sector...and far more people who feel entitled and don't chip in! Your statement, "you are not working with anyone who would not have to be told/asked/forced..." couldn't be further from the truth!!...and you know it!
As far as "buckling down in the interest of the company" we have been "buckling down" for the past three years,county employees have been taking a pay cut for the past 3-4yrs sir.
You obviously know nothing about what we do or why we do it. If we were in it for the money we wouldn't be here,we swore an oath and we take that very seriously!
Why should THEY sacrifice & forgo their vacation days if WE'RE too cheap to pay for the work we demand from them? An analogy to a struggling business is not apt in that in the county's case, there is no decline in demand for its fire or police protection "product".
That said, the county budget pressures are what they are. Public safety professionals can try to step up and help the county get on down the road or, they can move to greener pastures...kinda like it is in the private sector. Whining and threatening, however, are so unbecoming a "professional".
BTW, if you work in a private sector environment like I am used to, you are not working with anyone who would have to be told/asked/forced to pitch in when things get tough. And they would not be whining about the temporary measures to buckle down for a bit in the interests of all/the company. They certainly would not be talking threat/scare talk about quality/service decline...they would keep things going.
By the way I work in the private sector, my company cares enough about its staff that they would NEVER ask us to give up vacation or "volunteer" for a job we should get paid for and my company is growing, even in these "economic times", which tells me that there are other ways to survive these "economic times" without continuously taking from the employees.
Cobb County BOC needs to figure out those other ways.
In the private sector, for the past several years, many people have taken no/very little of their vacation time each year. This is primarily because they are concerned about their jobs and realize that if everybody is not giving it 100%, their company may not be around next year.
I assume the public safety personnel have no requirement that they MUST take their vacation time or that they MUST not show up to work on a scheduled unpaid furlough day. One would think that if they were really concerned about their county (and their job) they might be talking about serving their county by foregoing vacation days this year, or perhaps even showing up on furlough days. Stuff like that sure happens in the private sector (i.e. the sector that makes the money to pay for the government workers vacation days)... particularly in economic times like these. I am not hearing anyone mention that the public safety government workers ( or any government workers) are planning to do anything similar. I only hear the unfortunate threatening scare talk coming from the "supposed" professionals in public safety.
And I seriously do not understand why making one in Austell helps any one in Cobb county.. Like others said the one on windy hill should have never been shut down in the first place if they were going to just decide to rebuild another a few months later..
What a waste of money.
It sure is appearing there may be some hints of criminal misconduct by this BOC since they're "supposed" to be representing the citizens. Their personal agendas are in direct conflict with a representative people, so I believe it's time for someone with authority and power over them and the county manager to initiate an investigation. Does anyone know where a complaint should be filed? Isn't it time to act as one and pull the BOC members in and fire those who aren't representing us?
How the heck is David Hankerson's contract renewed when he's unaware of major activities affecting the county? He didn't know the county sold heavy equipment, he didn't know "his" mule project was started and paid for at "his" own command...what else hasn't surfaced that he "wasn't aware of"?
Did anyone bother to research the stuff that occurred before they voted to renew Hankerson's contract, considering it all happened prior to signing him up for X number of years? What benefits is he getting this time? Still getting pay raises? God forbid a county employ file an open records request because that would be the end of their career.
What will it take for someone to step in and say enough is enough?
The Senior Center at Windy Hill was recently closed and it was a very nice facility, very conveniente location in the middle of the County. The reason: "Cobb Co is reducing expenses".
Why to spend money building a new center when is not necessary? Why not to reopen Windy Hill?
Oh, the answer is obvious -- when the county needs money or our bureaucrats need to scratch others backs they raise taxes. Business as usual ! Shame, shame !
That said, I fully expect the government workers to do what they can to make things as difficult as they can in order to make sure their predictions of a breach of public safety come true.
I other words, you know that I made a very good point that you can not logically refute.